In light of a recent tragedy, Instagram is updating the way it handles pictures depicting self-harm. Instagram and Facebook announced changes to their policies around content depicting cutting and other forms of self harm in dual blog posts Thursday. The changes comes about in light of the 2017 suicide of a 14 year old girl […]
View More Instagram and Facebook will start censoring ‘graphic images’ of self-harmCategory: Suicide Prevention
Crisis Text Line may know the best way to ask about suicide
Research shows that asking someone if they’re suicidal doesn’t make them more likely to attempt suicide. Still, starting that conversation can feel intimidating for people worried about offending or embarrassing a loved one.
That’s why Crisis T…
But not a broken man
I’ve been living for the past few years in a limbo between journalist and entrepreneur, trying to build startups the way I saw them being built on stage at Disrupt and discovering that my skill and will to win are no match against the world. That’s fine. These days I’ll take it. But for a […]
View More But not a broken manHere’s how to better support people who are suicidal
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I remember whispers, silence, and shame. When I was growing up in the 1960s and 70s, an older cousin violently ended his life. It was never openly discussed, leaving questions and grief surrounding his death to reverberate for years.
Decades later, suicide continues to create quiet circles of despair, a circle that grows ever wider in this country: The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers show a 25.4 percent jump in the national suicide rate from 1999 to 2016, when nearly 45,000 people ages 10 or older completed suicide. For every life lost, there are even more stories – from family, friends, and colleagues – that must be heard to eradicate the deep-seated stigma and the silence that contribute to this crisis. Read more…
More about Mental Health, Suicide, Suicide Prevention, Chirlane Mccray, and Social Good
How one newspaper is helping kids during a teen suicide epidemic
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During the past several years, my colleagues at the Deseret News have researched, reported, and highlighted the challenges of America’s growing suicide and opioid epidemic.
Like many journalists around the country, we discovered that the gut-wrenching stories of promising lives ended in tragedy were all too common. In our state, it was particularly severe: between 2007 and 2015, the youth suicide rate nearly quadrupled, with 44 teens in Utah dying by suicide in 2015. Preliminary data shows that 42 died by suicide in 2017. One high school alone experienced seven suicides in one year.
More about Anxiety, Teens, Suicide Prevention, Social Good, and Health
View More How one newspaper is helping kids during a teen suicide epidemic21 reasons to keep living when you feel suicidal
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Dese’Rae L. Stage keeps a list of things that make her happy. It includes going to the movies alone, walking around with a giant cup of coffee, and quiet time with her wife. She learned a long time ago, after attempting suicide, that gratifying distractions and reminders of life’s small pleasures might save her in a moment of crisis.
SEE ALSO: How 4 teens took on bullying — and won
Stage knows that even if a person once attempted or contemplated suicide, it doesn’t mean that’s how their life will end. She knows this because she’s a living example. She’s also the creator of Live Through This, an initiative that documents the portraits and stories of suicide attempt survivors. Stage has interviewed 186 people in 36 cities across the U.S. who once tried to end their lives but didn’t. Read more…
More about Mental Health, Suicide, Suicide Prevention, Social Good, and Health
View More 21 reasons to keep living when you feel suicidalWorried about ’13 Reasons Why?’ Mental health experts are here to help.
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The new season of 13 Reasons Why picks up where the show’s debut left off and tries to tackle several painful subjects, including suicide, depression, bullying, sexual assault, and the threat of school violence.
That’s intense content even for adult viewers. But for adolescents and teens, particularly those who’ve already endured some type of trauma, these storylines can feel all too real.
A new toolkit created by dozens of mental health experts is designed to help anyone who encounters the show — either by watching or hearing about it — deal with its potentially traumatizing plots and themes. Read more…
More about Social Good, Mental Health, Suicide Prevention, 13 Reasons Why Season 2, and Social Good
View More Worried about ’13 Reasons Why?’ Mental health experts are here to help.Pop star turned entrepreneur Starshell raises $1 million for her Birthday Girl World
For the singer-songwriter Starshell, a one-time protege of Mary J. Blige, success comes in many guises — and the latest is startup entrepreneur.
Her song “Birthday Girl“, resonated so strongly with fans, says the singer born LaNeah Menzies, that it became something of an anthem. And Menzies has turned that anthem into a business.
Her site, Birthday Girl World, saw 208,740… Read More
‘Broverwatch’ is a group of guys who get together to play games and talk about their feelings
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At three o’clock every Sunday afternoon, a group of four British lads get together to play video games. This might sound like a pretty standard Sunday, but these chaps congregate so they can talk about their mental health, their feelings, and, well, how crap they are at video games.
They call themselves “Broverwatch.” (And, yeah, they really love playing Overwatch.)
Don’t let the project’s name fool you: Broverwatch couldn’t be further from the bro-y, alpha male get-together you might be imagining. Social media producer Duncan Vicat-Brown—one of the four “bros”—says the project started up because “men don’t talk about their feelings enough.” Read more…
More about Mental Health, Depression, Mental Illness, Overwatch, and Suicide Prevention
Seize the Awkward campaign wants to help you talk to a friend about their mental health
We’ve all been there before: A friend or loved one feels down, maybe even depressed, but we’re not sure how to raise the subject. Will it offend them? Could it make them feel worse?
Those fears might convince us that staying silent is the best …
Here’s why Logan Paul’s video showing suicide is so dangerous
Logan Paul was right about one thing: This definitely marks a moment in YouTube history.
Backlash spread quickly on New Year’s Day after YouTuber Logan Paul uploaded a video titled “We found a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest.” In the c…
Facebook’s suicide prevention AI just got an important upgrade
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Facebook’s suicide prevention AI just took an important step forward.
The tech, which uses pattern recognition to determine when some may be expressing thoughts of suicide or self harm, is now able to reach people before a friend alerts anyone that they need help.
Facebook first introduced its AI-based suicide prevention tools earlier this year. But until now, those tools still required a user, or one of their friends, to seek help. Now the social network says the tech has advanced to the point that it can proactively intervene when it detects that someone may be at risk of self harm or suicide — even if no one else has made a report. Read more…
More about Tech, Facebook, Artificial Intelligence, Apps And Software, and Suicide Prevention